Striated ant

is widely distributed throughout Aotearoa / New Zealand, and its offshore islands;

nests in the soil, often under stones and in rotting logs;

is not encountered as often as the introduced ants, which tend to invade houses and gardens;

has a general diet

may keep scale insects in its nests, to feed on the honeydew they excrete.

There are less than a dozen species of native ants, probably owing to the early isolation of Aotearoa / New Zealand from other land masses. Most of these have close relatives in other parts of the world, but the genus Huberia, with two species, is unique to this country.